


Fangs for Being There

by Eternal_Phantom



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types, Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Werewolf Shaggy, supportive gang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 22:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15650190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom
Summary: Shaggy had thought, hoped and prayed that his time as a werewolf was done after the Monster Road Rally. That Dracula would let things go. But he's never been that lucky. Fortunately he has friends to help him through this.





	Fangs for Being There

He was being stupid. He KNEW he was being stupid. This was fixed, it was all in the past.

Forty Five minutes till sunset.

The counter-spell had worked. He was normal again. No more fur, or random howling, or the urge to lick people. It was over. Done with.

Unless it wasn’t.

Forty minutes till sunset.

Shaggy collapsed back onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. It was no use, he couldn’t relax. Couldn’t help thinking about what had happened and fearing it would happen again. Tonight was the full moon. And exactly one month to the day he became a werewolf.  

Scooby was curled up at his side, lending moral support. Shaggy knew he’d stick by him no matter how this turned out, and honestly that helped a lot. But right now he needed something different. He needed someone to take apart his fears and tell him he was being ridiculous. Someone who could find logic in the midst of this madness. He needed…

“I need to call Velma, don’t I?” He asked Scooby.

“Rhe’ll rever relieve rus,” Scooby pointed out. And he was right. None of the others ever believed them about the supernatural.

“Yeah, but, like, if she can convince us that last month was just a kooky dream that never actually happened, I’d be fine with that.” Shaggy laughed nervously.

Scooby thought for a moment, then nodded. Shaggy picked up his phone and dialed. “Velma, can you come over? I really need someone to talk to…”

~

The sun was beginning to set as Velma drove up to Shaggy’s house. Honestly, she and Daphne had been expecting that phone call for a while and she had no doubt to it’s cause. 

Googie.

Honestly, she had never expected the relationship to work out. She figured once the initial infatuation wore off the two would realize they had _nothing_  in common and go their separate ways. Still, she and the rest of the gang were giving the new couple some alone time together before the inevitable dissolution. Instead, the two of them and Scooby had dropped off the face of the earth for a few days. No one could get in contact with them. Then suddenly Shaggy was back, the two had broke up and neither would say a thing about it. A few days later Googie vanished again and Shaggy refused to talk about it.

Still, she had kind of expect Daphne would get the call saying Shaggy needed someone to talk to about what happened, not her. Daphne was better with emotions. But for whatever reason, Shaggy had chosen her, and she would do her best.

When he answered the door, he looked more shake than he had right after the breakup. Not just scared-nervous, but twitchy. He kept shooting paranoid glances at the  _sky_  of all things.

“Shaggy, are you okay?’ she asked, concerned. 

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m fine, like I  _know_ I’m fine. I just can’t seem to convince myself of it.”

That was…a start, she supposed. Knowing that his emotional state might not be rational. She tried to think of nice delicate ways to bring up what might be bothering him as he led them over to the couch, but nothing came to mind. She sighed. Blunt it was.

“Shaggy, is the reason you’re so upset…does it have something to do with your break-up with Googie?”

He  froze at those words, before forcing himself to seem to relax.  "Yeah, it does.“ He didn’t smile or give that little laugh he had when he was nervous. Something was really wrong.

An ugly thought passed through her mind. “Shaggy, did Googie try to pressure you into doing… something you didn’t want to do?”

He didn’t answer verbally this time. Just a tight nod. And Velma saw red.

“Why didn’t you say anything?!” She demanded.

“Because, like, you never believe Scoob and I about stuff like that,”

And that was enough to bring her out of the rage. Because she knew they’d never even had a conversation about  _that_. In fact the only thing he was routinely disbelieved about was- “Does this have something to do with monsters?”

Another tight nod, like before. Admittedly she had the urge to sigh, but repressed it. Whatever had happened had scared Shaggy badly. And not in the normal way. “Start from the beginning. Tell me everything. Don’t worry about whether I would believe it or not.”

Shaggy took a deep breath. Well, he’d known he’d have to tell her when he’d asked her over. “The night we went missing the three of us were kidnapped by a vampire.” Well, technically his minions, but it was still on his orders. “He had, I guess you could call it a collection of monsters. He had, like, just lost his werewolf and needed a new one. He chose me. I don’t know why, but he did. All I know is one minute I was on a date at the drive-in, the next I had an angry mob behind me.”

Velma had heard about the monster at the drive-in. She just hadn’t had the heart to investigate with Shaggy missing. The thought that that monster  _was_  Shaggy, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

“Then we got kidnapped by the vampire,and he offered me an out. There was a contest, a race. If I could win, he’d turn me back. If I lost…” Shaggy couldn’t seem to get the words out.

“Ris rind,” Scooby supplied. ’Re’d rose ris ree rill.“ 

"I wouldn’t be ‘me’, just a werewolf puppet.” he shuddered.

“I’m guessing you won?” Velma ventured.

“Yeah, but like, it wasn’t easy. Ol’ Fangface cheated, a LOT. There were times I thought I was gonna _die_ , forget about winning! But I did. And he tried to get out of our deal. Said there was no way for me to become human again.” At this point Shaggy was holding the couch cushion in a white-knuckle grip. “He was lying, of course. On of his minions, Vanna, mentioned that the reversal spell was in a book. Googie grabbed it and we escaped. Once we got home, we tried it and it  _worked_.” He seemed to relax a bit, now that he was past that part of the story.

“And I thought it was past us. We survived, case closed. But it wasn’t over. Googie wouldn’t let it be over.”

“She thought it was…fun. A marvelous adventure. She felt like the heroine in a comic and she wanted to feel that again. She wanted that to go back and be monster hunters or something. She even commented that I should have stayed a werewolf, that that would have been _better_.” He shook his head. “She didn’t care about what we just went through to get me human again. She didn’t care that I have a crazy vampire out for my head. She didn’t care…she didn’t care about  _me_.” His voice got very quiet at that last part. 

“Once she fixated on something else, I wasn’t important except as a way to get what she wanted.” He didn’t want to say how much that realization had hurt, but he probably didn’t have to. “She, like, said a lot of things before she left. I was trying to tell her how dangerous it was, reminding her how close it had been.” He wasn’t crying, he wasn’t crying.

Velma reached over and pulled her friend into a hug. A simple show of support that would do more than any of her words could. Still her mind was going over the frankly insane story she just heard. Did she believe that really happened: No. Did she think Shaggy believed it: Yes. And that was important. She couldn’t be as dismissive as she usually was, not when Googie had been dismissive of him as a person.

She doubted it was just Shaggy misunderstanding a situation. That was way too in-depth for that. Which meant this was something staged for Shaggy’s benefit. But who, and why?

The only name she could come up with was Googie, but that seemed a rather extreme method of breaking up with a guy. Unless…Unless that was the plan from the get go! That everything, even the relationship, was part of a giant prank being played on her friend. Oooh if Velma ever got her hands on her…

But her anger wasn’t helping Shaggy now. Now she needed to address his fears. Primarily right now he seemed afraid of still being a werewolf. Silly as it may seem, she had to put him at ease.

“Okay, first off you said the counter-spell worked, right? Is there any real reason to think you would relapse?”

Shaggy shook his head, sharing a surprised look with Scooby that Velma seemed to be taking this seriously.

She glanced out the window. As she suspected, the sun had finished setting while they talked. “It’s already night time. The sun set without you noticing it. See, you’re still the same Shaggy.” She smiled ruffling his hair.

Shaggy gave her one of his crooked grins. Honestly, she was making him feel better already. Still, he had to get rid of all his doubts. “Like, I had to be in the moonlight for it to work last time.”

Okay then. Velma stood up, pulling him with her. “Then let’s go outside.”  
Shaggy gulped, not quite ready for that.

“Shaggy, there’s no reason for the moonlight to affect you. And if it does,” she couldn’t believe she was saying this. “Then isn’t better to know now and deal with it than to work yourself up in a state?”

He gulped. She was right. He wanted to still be human. He wanted it so badly. But if he were being honest with himself (and he tried to be) he was more stressed out today than he was a month ago when his life was on the line.

He let her lead him out the front door, into the cool night air. His eyes were shut, still afraid to see. He could swear he felt the moonlight crawling on his skin and something within him trying to get out, but looking through squinted eyes, he saw only skin on his arm. No fur. No claws.

“I’m still me. I’m still me!” He almost cried again, this time with joy. “I’m not a werewolf!”

“That,” a familiar and unwelcome voice said in a Romanian accent, “is vhat you think.”

Velma shrieked in surprise at the voice out of nowhere. Shaggy pulled her close by the hand she still was holding. Scooby huddled behind the two humans. Velma followed Shaggy and Scooby’s gaze to the roof of the house. Standing there was a green-skinned man wear traditional vampire’s garb, cape and all.

“ _Dracula_ ,” Shaggy whispered, horrified.

“You thought you had seen the last of me, Sha-gee.” The vampire taunted. “But I told you, there vas no escape. You can feel it, can’t you. The beast trying to claw from vithin you. You are still a verevolf,. That spell merely keeps it at bay. But it is fragile and, once broken, gone forever. Soon your true nature vill be on display for all to see.” He raised his arms dramatically, unfortunately causing him to lose his balance and fall off the roof.

“I meant to do that,” he declared.

“That’s Dracula?” Velma asked in slight disbelief. 

“Like, yeah. But don’t let the clumsiness fool you. He’s one mean monster!”

“Rah! Rean ronster!” Scooby agreed.

“Vell now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings.” said the vampire lord, brushing himself off. “And here I vas, all villing to offer you a deal.”

“I am seriously supposed to buy this,” For Shaggy, she could suspend her disbelief. For this guy, not so much. “You’re supposed to be the great Count Dracula?”

Dracula growled, as though a sore spot had been hit. “And vhat is that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re barely intimidating. Oh, I won’t deny you got me good on the roof. But what’s supposed to make be believe you’re a vampire? You look just like a guy in green grease paint and a cheap Halloween costume.”

“Halloveen costume?  ** _Halloveen Costume?!_**  I vill have you know this is the best spider-silk suit money can buy!” Dracula spat.

“You got scammed,” was Velma’s only response.

“Velma, like  _please_  stop antagonizing the angry vampire.” Shaggy pleaded.

The vampire bared his fangs. “This are irrelevant. I’ve come for my verevolf, and I shall have him. Sha-gee vill give into the curse and become my servant.”

“Like, nah ah, no way! There isn’t nothing you could say that would make me want to go with you!” Shaggy protested.

“Really?” Dracula snapped his fingers. A shadow flew over their heads before landing in front of them. The figure seemed to be mostly a giant bird, with the exception being the human face and hair.

“Hello Shaggikins,” Googie purred. “Did you miss me?”

“G-G-” Shaggy couldn’t even say her name as he fell to his knees.

“You abandoned me, Shaggikins. Left me on my own. Dracula found me. Did this to me.”

“I am villing to undo it though. A Harpy is nice, but vhat I really want is…”

“A werewolf.” Shaggy whispered. “I…”

“Owe her _nothing_! Velma snarled. She poked the harpy in the chest. "Even if this was real and not some cockamamie scheme to ruin Shaggy’s peace of mind, he warned you that what you were doing was incredibly dangerous. He tried to keep you safe. And you threw it back in his face. You’re the one who abandoned him. This is on you, Googie.”

Googie screeched and suddenly Velma was on her back, an angry harpy in her face and  _Jinkies that wasn’t a costume!_ Okay, she needed to keep a clear head. She was basically a bird right? Bird’s could fly because their bones were hollow, so a less damage resistant than a humans. Using one arm to protect herself, she used the other to group for something hard enough to smash into the harpy.

“I have changed my mind,” Dracula declared. “I can get my verewolf later. Googie, bring her to the car.”

The world suddenly shifted as Velma felt herself lifted up in the air, her glasses falling from her eyes.

“VELMA,” Shaggy cried out as Scooby ran in to save her. A shower of moondust in his direction sent the dog into dream land.

“Farevell for now, Shag-gee.” Dracula called as Googie dropped Velma into the backseat, he himself turned to mist to get into the driver’s seat and drove off.

“What do I do?” Shaggy whimpered to himself, as he ran to his fallen friend. Thank god Scooby was just sleeping. He picked up his best friend and noticed the square rimmed glasses in his hand. He didn’t even remember picking them up.

Dracula had Velma, all because he had asked her to come over. Should he ask Fred and Daphne for help? No, they might end up in danger too.

He looked up at the moon, the only witness to what had happened. “What do I do?”

~

Velma tried to fight off the sleepiness. She had gotten a whiff of that powder and while not enough to send her to sleep it made her incredibly groggy. That combined with not being able to see meant she had no idea where she was or how long they’d been driving when they stopped and the vampire carried her out.

“Why?” she asked, unable to move her tired limbs enough to escape. “Why are you doing this? Why does Shaggy have to be a werewolf?”

  
“You are asking two different questions, girl. But being the  _generous_  vampire I am, I vill answer them all the same.” They were going up stairs now, she could tell that much at least. “It is not that I chose Sha-gee to become a verevolf. Rather, it is that he is the verevolf I have chosen. The odds of him NOT becoming a verewolf that night vere astronomical. But, if I did not turn him into a verevolf, I could not control him. Most monsters are easy to create or convert from human. Verevolves are usually only made by another one’s bite. I got lucky vith the one I had. Once he escaped, I thought I vas out a verewolf for good. But once every five hundred years the moon chooses a new verevolf. I thought that having my minions force the process, make it happen faster, I could control him.” 

“But it vasn’t enough. I had enough control to prevent him from regaining his human form in the daylight, but no more. Instead I had to make that bet to further trap him, but he _von_.”

Velma heard him make a noise of frustration.

“But now I will force him to submit to his destiny, and thus gain full power over him.”

“Using me as bait the same way you were planning on using Googie. And since you made her into a monster, you’re controlling her. What she does and says isn’t necessarily what the real Googie would have done.” Velma surmised as she was lain down on what felt like a bed.

  
“Yes, though I try to leave a bit of the original personality in my servants. It gets boring otherwise. Once you pointed that out, I couldn’t be _sure_  he would submit on that guilt trip.”

“Then why not just do the exchange there and then.” Velma asked. “If you don’t do it tonight, you have to wait another month, right?”

“A month of Sha-gee stewing in guilt will make him all the more desperate to comply.  And this vay, I get something else I’ve vanted.” Velma felt a shiver crawl up her spine. “You are intelligent, Velma. A little mouthy, but do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been since I’ve had someone truly intelligent in my kingdom? Not a minute after you realized monster were realy, you analyzed the situation and came up with a valid plan to seriously harm my harpy. It’s been a few centuries since I took a bride. Perhaps the time has come again.”

Pure panic seemed to flood Velma. “What? Me!? But…but I’m not pretty or anything?”

  
“Pretty? Bah! I’ve had all the  _pretty_  I can take with Vanna. And do not worry, once you are a vampire, you’ll learn to love it.”

“Master!” Googie called from somewhere outside. “There’s someone here!”

“Vell stop them you overgrown feather duster!”

“But Master, it’s-”

“ ** _VELMA_**!” they heard Shaggy’s voice echo from the doorway of the house. “ ** _ARE YOU HERE_**?”

“UPSTAIRS SHAGGY!” She called back.

“I spend all this time trying to get my hands on him, then the moment I don’t vant him,” Dracula muttered. Unfortunately for him, he was standing too close to the door when Shaggy burst through it and it caught him in the face.

“Velma, like are you okay?”

“Behind you,” She warned as she heard the door in motion again.

“No…How could… _you’ve ruined everything_!” Dracula cried.

Velma heard sounds of a struggle and some growling (Was Scooby there too? Of course he was, where one of those two went, the other followed.) Then she smelled something strong and familiar. Garlic.

“This isn’t over Sha-gee, Velma. Googie, ve’re leaving.”

“Shaggy,” she called out. God, she hated how blind she was without her glasses. “Is everything okay?”

“They’re gone.” Her friend responded. From anyone else, she would have thought that was an evasive answer.

Velma sat herself up, the action taking far more effort than it should have. “That powder…”

“Moondust. He, like used it on us before.” She heard him take something out of his pocket. “I, um, brought your glasses.”

Thank God she didn’t have to be blind anymore. As quickly as she could (which was still frustratingly slow) she put them on.

Her first thought was there was too much brown on him. But as she realized what she was seeing, her heart jumped into her throat. “Shaggy,  _What did you DO?!_ ”

The werewolf sitting next to her on the edge of the bed hunched his shoulders. “I…I knew I had to find you, like fast. I remembered his vehicles gave out this weird smell the last time I was a werewolf, guessing he’s using some sort of potion for fuel. But I couldn’t smell it as a human. And Scoob’s still asleep from the moondust. And I realized the only way to track it, to save you-”

For her sake. His hard earned freedom and he’d given it up for her sake. She reached out and touched his face with both her hands, running her fingers over his muzzle and through his fur. She gently glanced them over the triangular ears, which folded back at her touch. She’d only seen red eyes depicted as something scary, but his were filled with relief and sadness. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Shaggy shook his head. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t invited you over-”

“He would have used Googie to guilt trip you into a capture. You would have vanished and none of us would have known why. I’d rather get kidnapped than have that happen.”

“I’m not worth that.”

“You most certainly are.” She pulled him into a hug. “Shaggy, let’s go home.”  
He nodded. She was still too weak to walk, so he carried her out, bridal style. He put her in the jeep (Top up, he didn’t want anyone to see him) and began to drive. They rode in silence (neither knowing what to say), until Shaggy pulled up in front of Velma’s house.

Velma didn’t make a move to get out, only putting her hand above his and interlacing her fingers with his claws, “Shaggy, is Scooby waiting for you back home?”

Shaggy nodded. “The Moondust has him out for the count, though he’ll wake up in the morning.”

So he’d be facing this alone then. No, that wasn’t acceptable. She squeezed his hand. “I’m going back with you. You called me because you needed someone to be there for you. I don’t think that’s changed.” She gave him a small smile.

“You don’t have to-”

“I  _want_  to. Maybe I can figure something out. I don’t suppose you still have that book?”

“It’s at home. Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

When they got back to Shaggy’s place, Velma saw Scooby curled up in the blue armchair, fast asleep as Shaggy said. She sat at then end of the orange sofa while Shaggy came back in with the book. He tried sitting down at the other end, but couldn’t seem to get comfortable.

“Something wrong?” She asked, concerned.

“It’s, like, this tail, I can’t seem to sit properly.”

“How did you sit with it in the car?” Velma asked.

“Badly,” was Shaggy’s only answer.

She sighed. “Lay down.” She instructed.

“But there’s not enough room.” he protested.

“Then lay over me. Use the armrest as a pillow.” She suggested.

He blushed, but wasn’t sure why. He and Scooby lay over each other all the time. “Is this okay?” he asked, as he moved into the position she suggested.

“It’s fine,” Velma reassured. Honestly, it was comforting having him right there. Without thinking she let one hand fall to his head running her fingers through his hair. They would need to tell Fred and Daphne, of course. Scooby would find out tomorrow, as soon as he woke up. They couldn’t keep secrets from each other. Not like this.

She heard a rhythmic sound coming  from her left. Shaggy’s tail was wagging slowly, hitting the couch. Under her hand he looked relaxed for the first time that evening. Maybe not exactly at peace with his situation, but able to let it go for now.

They could tell Fred and Daphne tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic started as a commission for post Reluctant Werewolf Shelma. It was intended as a one shot, but grew far beyond that.
> 
> The ironic part is I was not a Shelma fan at all. It had always felt like pairing the spares to me, then MI killed the ship dead to me. But somehow writing this, I got attached to it.


End file.
